Whole Foods Could Be Coming To Uptown Charlotte
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CHARLOTTE, NC – Some residents call Uptown Charlotte a food desert when it comes to grocery stores, but that could soon change.
Whole Foods is expected to announce a new location in Center City as early as Wednesday.
A Whole Food’s representative tells WCCB the company will announce it’s newest leases at a quarterly earnings meeting Wednesday.
According to CharlotteRestaurantTraffic.com, a blog run by local real estate brokers, the Whole Foods will be built at the corner of Stonewall and South Caldwell near the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Right now, the Harris Teeter at Fifth and Poplar is the only grocery story in Uptown Charlotte.
“Where I am, it’s almost like a food desert,” said Brad Stalker, an Uptown Charlotte resident.
The 18,000 square foot store has limited options. That’s why residents are excited about the possible addition of a 47,000 square foot Whole Foods Supermarket.
“People who live in Uptown generally are going to want to shop at Whole Foods. I think it’s going to be a really big market and I think people have wanted it to come here for a long time,” said Maddie Audit, an Uptown Charlotte resident.
From the corner of Stonewall and South Caldwell, where the Whole Foods would sit, the growing rental market and residential boom of Uptown are evident.
“But retail has been something over the years that’s been fairly difficult in the Uptown market,” said T.J. Larsen, owner of My Townhome, a Charlotte-based real estate company.
Larsen says the Harris Teeter at Fifth and Poplar increased property values when it opened 12 years ago. He expects Whole Foods will do the same.
“Any increase in value in Uptown should also translate to increases in value in Dilworth and South End and the adjacent properties,” said Larsen.
The new supermarket is also expected to heat up the local grocery store wars.
Publix is building a store about a mile away in South End. There’s also the Trader Joe’s at the Metropolitan and the Midtown Target.
The new Whole Foods will reportedly feature a rooftop restaurant and bar overlooking the Charlotte skyline.
“It really rounds out the city in that location. I mean, those areas that they’re talking about construction here are the last pieces of land,” said Larsen.
As for new jobs, Whole Foods hired 200 employees for it’s SouthPark store in 2012.
Another Whole Foods is slated to open next year at the intersection of Providence and Ardrey Kell Roads in South Charlotte.
